Monticello Bucks stay alive in 2A state baseball tournament with close win over Altamont

The 2A Utah State Baseball Championships commenced on Saturday, May 8 at Beaver High School and the Monticello Buckaroos were in attendance to face the undefeated and #5-ranked Enterprise Wolves.

Due to sparse stats, all that can be reported is that the Bucks were blanked 15-0 in the opening round of the double-elimination tournament by Enterprise.

With the loss, the Bucks moved to the drop-down bracket to face the Altamont Longhorns. If you recall, Monticello got their only win of the season against Altamont in March, 19-0.

So, on Saturday afternoon the Bucks had to like their chances to extend their season. With Devin Hatch on the mound, Monticello jumped on the Longhorns early, scoring a run in the first inning and two more in the second.

Both teams were blanked in the third inning and Altamont came alive in the fourth to tie the game at 3-3.

Monticello responded in the fifth inning to score a couple needed runs in the bottom half of that inning to take the 5-3 lead. Monticello then threw two shut-out innings to close out a 5-3 win and continue in the one-loss bracket this week.

Monticello was able to score five runs despite only coming up with two hits in the game. Defensively, the Bucks shined, committing no errors in the game. Altamont scored three runs on three hits and made nine errors in the contest.

Devin Hatch had a strong day, fanning 15 Longhorn batters, earning the state win and improving to 1-6 on the season. Easton Young drove in a run for the Buckaroos.

MHS continues in the 2A tournament this Thursday, May 13 when they continue drop-down play against a familiar 2A Central foe – the #9 North Sevier Wolves.

A Monticello loss would end the Bucks’ season, but a win would earn the team another single-elimination game against either Duchesne or North Summit. The first pitch will be thrown at 11:00 am on Thursday.

Track and field
In the yearly state meet preview, the best track and field competitors from across Utah (and other states as well including Nevada, Idaho, and Wyoming) converged on the Clarence Robison Track at Brigham Young University for the Mr. Mac/BYU Invitational on Friday and Saturday, May 7-8.

The Monticello track and field competitors, who qualified by meeting certain standards in previous meets, were there to tune up against 1A-3A competition on the very track they’ll compete on at the 2A championships in two weeks.

The Monticello boys had a tremendous meet, ending up in 19th place amongst the 78 teams that participated, scoring 26.5 overall points with all but three points coming from field events.

The Lady Buckaroos competed hard but fell short when it came to scoring points at the highly competitive 1A-3A meet.

That said, we are going to list the field results first. Buckaroo senior Cedar English had a very good meet, placing second in two events – the high jump and long jump – scoring eight points in each event.

In the high jump, English cleared 6-02, falling just short of the winning height of 6-04 jumped by a Water Canyon jumper. Boston Freestone placed eighth in the event, clearing 5-10 that earned a half point for the team.

In the girls high jump trials, Berlynn Black placed 29th overall with her jump of 4-07 and Cami Lewis came in 34th place with her jump of 4-07.

In the long jump, English leapt 22-05.75 for another second-place finish but was again edged by the same Water Canyon jumper who beat him in the high jump with a 22-08.75. In the girls long jump trials, Cami Lewis leapt 12-08 to place 38th.

Monticello as a team placed extremely well in the boys javelin when Cedar English came in fourth place, heaving the spear 154-08. The effort scored five team points.

Teammate Eric Montague also got on the board with two team points when he executed a seventh-place throw of 148-11.50. Robert Musselman and Cory Bunker placed 19th and 24th with throws of 138-09.25 and 132-00.25.

Musselman was busy at the meet, competing in the shot put, discus, and javelin. In the shot put, he placed 20th with a put of 40-1.50.

Teammate Tuff Adair was close behind with his put of 39-05.25 for 25th place overall. In the discus, Musselman came away with a 35th-place finish with his throw of 103-05.75.

In the track distance events, Monticello got several good finishes. Cory Bunker placed sixth in the 3200-meter when he cracked the ten-minute mark with a 9:54.36 to score three points for the team. A time of 9:08.79 from a 2A runner won the event.

Lady Buck Shayla Pehrson placed 32nd in her 3200 race with a time of 14:16.79. Bunker followed his finish with a 15th place finish in the 1600 with a time of 4:38.43. Lily Long got her best finish of the day, crossing the finish line in 5:40.61 to place 20th overall.

In the middle distances, Alan Pettit just missed scoring a team point when he placed ninth in the 800-meter with a time of 2:03.77. Teammate Cory Bunker crossed the finish line in 2:10.39 to place 34th. 

In the girls races, Lady Buck Lily Long placed 32nd in the 800, running a 2:37.12. In the 400-meter heats, Boston Freestone finished tenth with a 52.77, just missing out on the finals where only the top nine advanced.

In the sprints, 200-meter sprint heats Bucks Eric Montague and Boston Freestone placed 38th and 39th with times of 24.59 and 24.62, missing the finals.

In her 200-meter heat, Berlynn Black placed 65th, running a time of 30.00. In the 100-meter heats, Cedar English placed 33rd (11.97) and Cameron Bailey got 93rd (12.87) falling short of the finals.

Likewise, Sadie Adair placed 51st (14.12), Berlynn Black placed 65th (14.45) and Cami Lewis placed 80th (14.73) in their 100-meter heats.

Sadie Adair was the lone Monticello competitor in the100-meter hurdles heats. She placed 35th overall with a time of 18.13 – failing to qualify for the finals.

In the boys sprint relay, Monticello ran a 4:14.42 to place 24th. The team consisted of Cameron Bailey, Boston Freestone, Alan Pettit, Cory Bunker, Curtis Bunker, and Cedar English but we’re unclear which four runners actually ran in the race.

The teams will compete for the Region 16 championship this Wednesday, May 12 in Coalville, UT on North Summit’s home track. The Utah State Championships are next week in Provo, Utah.

Girls golf
This past Tuesday, May 4 the Monticello girls golf team hosted their final region match of the season at the Hideout Golf Course.

It was a great opportunity for the team to extend their Region 16 win streak to four straight and increase their lead heading into this week’s region championships.

That’s exactly what the Lady Bucks did, winning the match by 39 shots over the closest competitor. Monticello shot 441 as a team with North Summit next in line with a 480.

Gunnison Valley finished third with a team score of 493 followed by Altamont with a 542. With the win, Monticello secured the regular season region championship with a 457.0 average followed by North Summit (479.6), Gunnison Valley (491.4), and Altamont (519.75).

Individually at the Hideout Olivia Chamberlain was the only golfer to dip into the 90s when she fired a 94 to win her fifth-straight region tournament. Amy Lewis had another great round when she shot a 113.

Lewis was followed by Kylie Rogers and Jade Nielson who shot 117 each. Gabi Dowell claimed the final team score with her round of 119 shots. Kennedy Brewer and Kahryme Alvarado shot 123 and 130 respectively.

For the regular season, the Lady Bucks ended up with five golfers in the top 12 in the region. Olivia Chamberlain was the region’s low medalist with her 97.20 shot average.

Amy Lewis finished third on the season with a 117.20 followed by Kylie Rogers (sixth, 119.25), Kennedy Brewer (seventh, 120.75), and Jade Nielson (12th, 124.75).

On Monday, May 10 the girls won the Region 16 title at this author’s favorite public course in Utah – Hobble Creek in Springville.

Olivia Chamberlain won an individual title for the Lady Bucks at the event. We’ll have full coverage in next week’s edition.